Gear shifting mechanism



2 Sheets-Shed 1 Filed Feb. 14, 1940 -IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII l-lllllllllllnlllun-nfln N St uuhuhn lV/LS ERIK WA BY j ATTORNEY.

Sept. 30, 1941.

N. E. WAHLBERG GEAR SHIFTING MECHANI SM Filed Feb. 14, 1940 INVENIOR. Z M465 MK WAf/LBERG L TTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 30, 1941 GEAR, SHIFTING MECHANISM Nils Erik Wahlberg, Kenosha, Wis., assignor to Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, Keno'sha, Wis., a corporation of Maryland Application February 14, 1940, Serial No. 318,889

7 Claims.

This invention relates to remote control gear shifting mechanism and has particular reference to mechanism operable from the steering column forpreselecting a desired ratio in a transmission of an automobile.

It is an object of my invention to provide a remote gear shift mechanism which is cheaper to construct and install than mechanism known heretofore.

It is another object of my invention to provide shifting mechanism operable from a single control shaft.

It is another object of my invention to provide a shifting mechanism in which the main shifting shaftis journalecl to rotate but which requires no journals for longitudinal movement.

It is another object of this invention to provide shifting mechanism for selecting either of two shift rails which are to be operated upon and for moving either of these shift rails into a plurality of positions.

It is another object of this invention to provide shifting mechanism with a single operating shaft rotatable to locate the position of a shift rail and rockable along a longitudinal axis to select one of a plurality of shift rails to be operated on.

. Otherobjects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from a consideration of the following description and the attached drawings of which there are two sheets and in which Figure 1 represents a plan view of the motor compartment of an automobile, the hood and body portion of the automobile being broken away to better illustratethe positionof my shifting mechanism;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the instrument panel of an automobile showing the upper end of my shift mechanism as installed along the steering column;

Figure 4 is a section taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5 is a section taken along the line 5 of Figure 2 and looking in the directionof the arrows;

Figure 6 is a side elevation of a modified structure for selecting the shift rail to be operated upon by my shifting mechanism;

Figure 9 is a section taken along the line 9-9 of Figure 8 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the drawings in which similar reference characters are used to denote similar objects, I have shown an automobile having a motor H] which may be mounted upon a frame l2 by any suitable means known to the art today.

The motor [0 is provided with a clutch housing 23 and a transmission housing 30 which I have shown to be cast integrally with the motor block it]. However, my invention may be applied equally well to a motor and transmission which a q s pied separ te a later a mb ed- The transmission housing is provided with a flange I82 and a bracing connection generally indicated at 3! which will be more particularly described later.

The automobile is provided with a brake pedal 34 and a clutch pedal 36 which are mounted on a shaft 38 and connected to the brakes and clutch respectively by suitable linkage (not shown).

The automobile is provided. with a channel shaped axle member 44 which is fastened to the side frame members l2 in any suitable manner known to the art. an inclined surface 46 (see Figure 2) to which is attached the steering gear 48 for the automobile.

The steering gear 43 is provided with the usual steering column 9 Which extends upwardly into the body of the automobile where it is fastened to the instrument panel 52by passing it through a bearing 54 (see Figure 3) bolted to the instru- .ment panelby means of the bolt 56. If desired,

this bearing 54 may be provided with rubber or other flexible gaskets 58 to prevent transmission of vibration between the body and the steering column. The column terminates at its upper end in the usual steering wheel 60 provided with a horn button 62.

56. The shaft 66 is made of hollow metal tubing.

Shaft 66 is supported at its upper end by means of a .U-shaped yoke 12 (see also Figure 4), one arm of .which is threaded into 2. lug M from which the boss [6 depends. The boss 16 is apertured as at 18 to receive the rubber grommet 8B which yieldingly supports an annular bearing sleeve 82 along its inside surface.

The axle 44 is provided with The main der side of the bend and the washer I6. the shaft 66 is lowered, the upper edge of the aperture I will draw the hooked end [02 of the rod I04 forward.

the connections between the arms of the yoke 12 and the lug 88 and lug I4 are threaded connections, it is evident that the shaft 66, fixed to the lug T4 may be moved up and down axially by causing the yoke I2 to rotate about the'lug 88 and the lug I4 to rotate about the upper arm of the yoke. At the same time the shaft 66 is capable of rotary motion within'the bearing sleeve 82.

Illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the lower end of the shaft 66 is supported by a yoke -12 and bracket I4 similar to that at the top of the shaft.

The lower yoke 12 is supported from a portion of the'car body 90 by means of a hollow shaft 92 fastened to the body by means of a threaded cap screw 94. The lower yoke 12 and bracket 14 are -mounted parallel to the upper yoke and bracket so that the axis of the shaft 66 will always move in a single plane and lie in positions parallel to one another and axis. r The lower end of the shaft 66 is provided with a hole I 00 (see Figure 1) in its lower wall, which hole is arranged to receive the hooked end I02 of a shift rod I04 which is bent so that the center portion of the bend will be normal to the axis of yet be free to rotate about its the shaft66. The rod I04 is provided with a Washer I06 held against the underside of the I shaft 66 by means of a pin I08 passed through the rod I64. With the end of the rod I04 restingv inside of the shaft 66 and the washer I06 pinned to the rod I04 just underneath the shaft, the normal portion of the rod I04 is retained adjacent I to the edges of the hole I00. Thus when the shaft 66 is raised by lifting on the handle 68, the rod I04 wi1l be given a backward movement by the lower end of the shaft 66 acting against the un- When The rod I04 is carried back alongside of the frame member I2 to one arm of a bell crank I I0 which is pivoted at III upon a bracket II2 fas- "tened to the frame I2 by means of bolts II4.

' Movement of the rod I04 serves to rotate the bell crank IIO about its pivot III so that the inner arm N6 of the bell crank IIO will causea transverse link H8 to move generally transversely of the car. stock and fastened to the arm II 6 by bending up one end of the bar and passing it through a hole in the arm I I6. The connection may be secured by a pin I I 9. The inner end of the bar I I8 is fastened to a selector bar I20 in a manner which will be more particularly described later. Fastened near the lower end of the shaft 66 and just above the lower yoke I2 is an arm I22 which is provided with a split end I24 drawn down around the shaft 66 and clamped thereto by a bolt I26. The lower end of the arm I22 is apertured to receive the bent over end of a cross link I28, the other end of which is connected to a second bell crank I30. The bell crank I30 is pivoted at'l32 to a U-shaped clip J34 fastened to the The link II8 may be formed of rod am ss motor block by means of the bolts I36. The bell crank I30 is provided with a laterally extending arm I38 from which a second shift rod [40 extends backwardly to the selector bar I20. It should thus be evident that as the shaft 66 is rotated the arm I22 will move the link I28 transversely of the car to rotate the bell crank I30 about its pivot I32. Movement of the bell crank I30 will cause the end of the arm I38 to move generally backward and forward to move the shift rod I40 longitudinally of the automobile to operate the selector bar in a manner which will be more particularly described later.

.The transmission housing 30 is provided towards its rear portion with an offset portion I42 which has a vertical face I44 at the rear thereof.

Face I44 is apertured in two places to accommodate the two shift rails I46 and I48 which are slidable longitudinally through the wall of the transmission case. My invention contemplates the use of any transmission which is shiftable by the movement of the shift rails such as I 46 and I48. This type of transmission provided with shift forks on the shift rails is common in the art today and will not be described further; The extremerear surface of the transmission casing is provided with a threaded bolt I50 held in place by means of the lock nut I52 and projecting toward the rear of the car. The threaded bolt I50 is arranged to receive the internally threaded bifurcated cap I54 which is loosely threaded on the bolt I 50 so that it is capable of turning about the bolt through several degrees of rotation. The bifurcations of the cap I54 are drilled and tapped toreceive the threaded bolt I56 transversely-of the axis of the cap I54, The bolt I56 pivotally supports the selector bar I20 which has a finished end portion I58 which fits between the bifurcations of the cap I54 and is drilled so as to rock on the bolt I56. The selector bar I20 is provided near its center with a shift rail engaging portion I6 having two circular lobes which are arranged to fit in grooves I62 cut in the adjacent surfaces of each shift rail. When the selector bar I20 is arranged between the shift rails I46 I and I46, it is rotatable about the bolt I50 to swing downwardl into engagement with the notch I62 in the shift rail I46 (as shown in Figure 5) or upwardly into engagement with the notch in the shift rail I48; It is to be noted that when the selector bar is in engagement with one shift rail, it is free from the other shift rail and may move the engaged rail'without moving the other rail. At the same time the two shift rails are so spaced with respect to the thickness of the selectorbar that the selector bar I29 may not be moved out of engagement with one shift rail until the notches I62 are in alignment so that the rail may be moved from one notch to the other one. -I contemplate adjusting the shift rails so that the notches I62 will be opposite each other when the transmission is in neutral position. In this manner I have provided a crossover means since one shift rail must be returned to the neutral position before the selector bar may be moved into operative relationship with the other shift rail.

The extreme lower end of the selector bar I20 is provided with an inclined plate I64 (see Figures l and 2) which I have shown to be forged as an integral part of the selector bar itself. This plate I64 is apertured in two places to receive the ends of the transverse link H8 and the shift rod I40. The shift rod I46 is engaged in its corresponding aperture by simply bending over the end of the rod I40 and inserting apin through the bent overportion below the plate I84. The link I I8is preferably passed through the plate I64 and provided with washers I66 (see Figure 1) on each side of the plate I64. The

Washers are retained in place by means of pins I68 passed through the link I I8. From this construction it is evident that movement of thelink I I8 towards the center of the car will swing the lower end of the selector. bar I20 downwardly I about the bolt I50 as a pivotand engage the se- The I lector bar with the inside shift rail I46. reverse movement will engage the selector bar with the outside shiftlrail I48. With the selector bar in engagement with either of the shift rails a backward movement of the shift rod I40 will;

swing the lower end of the selector bar I20 to the rear about the bolt I56 as a pivot and cause A reversal of this Considering the entire structure, downward movement of the operating handle 88 operates to draw theshift rod I04 forward and rotate the crank I I to move the link I I 8 toward the center;

to engage the inside shift rail I46 as has just been described. Since the standard practice in automobile shifting today is to have the lower position of the operating lever connected to the intermediate and direct driv gears, this inner Shift rail I46 will preferably be connected to the intermediate and direct drive gears in the transmission. The reverse movement of the linkage Just described will of course engage the selector bar I60 with the shift rail I48 which will be connected. to the low and reverse gearing in the transmission. A clockwise rotation of the operating handle 68, as viewed from the operators position, serves to move the arm I22 in a clockwise direction and draw the link I28 toward the left side of the car. This motion rotates the bell crank I30 so that arm I38 will draw the shift rods I40 forward. Forward motion of the rod I40 moves the selector bar I29 forward as has been explained, causing the shift rail which happens to be engaged with the selector bar to move forward. Since clockwise rotation of the operators handle standardly engages the gears in low or direct drive position, my transmission is preferably arranged so that forward movement of the shift rail I46 will engage the transmission in direct drive, while forward movement of the shift rail I48 will engage the transmission in low gear. Th reverse movement of this linkage will, of course, engage the transmission in either intermediate or reverse gearing.

The transmission housing is shown (see Figure 1) to have a horizontal flange I82 along its bottom side. This flange has a widened portion 200 to which a plate 202 is fastened by means of bolts 284. The plate 202 has a portion 206 which extends away from the side of the transmission and is forged or otherwise suitably shaped to form a boss 208 to receiv the threaded end of brace rods 2 I 0. Although only one brace rod appears in these views, I contemplate the use of a rod from each side of the transmission, which rods will extend diagonally back and be fastened to opposite ends of the rear axle (not shown). The brace rods are maintained in position by the nuts 2I2 and lock nuts 2I4. The connection is cushioned by rubber biscuits 2I6 protected from wear by the washers 2 I 8.

In Figures 6 through 9 I have illustrated a modified method for moving the selector bar into engagement with either of the shift rails.l As illustrated I have provided a generally U-shaped bracket I80 which is supportedfrom the transmission housing by slotting the plate 292 :as at I86. The forward end of the bracket I80 is provided with ears .184 which prevent the bar from sliding completelythrough the slot I86 and thus supports the front end of the bar.

It will be noted that th slot I86 is considerably larger than the cross section of the bracket I80 so that the bracketmay be swung in a generallyvertical plane through several degrees of arc. The rear end of the bracket I80 has bolted to its upper end a support I88 which I have shownto be made of metal folded into a generally box shaped structure. The support I88 is apertured at I90 to loosely support the rod I40 which serves the same purpose as in the structure first described;

. The forward arm of the bracket I80 is apertured'to receive the rod 1 92 which is conveniently I held in place by means of the nuts I94 and rubber washers I96. I have also provided the coil spring I98 which is compressed between the nuts I94 and the flange I82. This spring serves to prevent the bracket I from rattling in th slot I86. The rod I92 serves the same purpose as the shift rod I84 and is connected at its forward end with the shaft 96 in the same manne as the rod I04 in the structure disclosed in Figures 1 and 2. I

With this structure it should be evident that the rod I92 may be moved to the rear or right as seen in Figure 6 to swing the U-shaped rod I80 in a counterclockwise direction, thus raisingthe support I 88 and the back end of shift ,rod1I40. Raising the backend of the shift rod I40 serves to raise the selector barl219 to engage the shift rail I48. Forward movement of the rod I92 will lower the shift rod I40 and engage the selector bar with the shift rail I46. With either shift rail engaged with the selector bar, the shift rod I40 may be moved forward or backward through the aperture I90 in the support I88 to move the shift rails in the same manner as was described in connection with Figures 1 through 5. With this type of support for the shift rod I49 the bell crank III) and link H8 and the connection I68, I68 as shown in Figure 1 may be dispensed with since their function is performed by the bracket I80, support I88, and the rear end of shift rod I40.

My invention is obviously applicable to various arrangements with various combinations of motor and frame of the automobile and is further not restricted to automotive use. While I have described this example of my invention in some detail, I do not intend this description to be limiting and reserve the right to all structures covered by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an automobile having a transmission shiftable by movement of one of two shift rails, a selector bar pivoted at one end to be engaged with either of said shift rails, said selector bar also being pivoted for movement in a plane at right angles to said first pivot, a link for moving said selector bar in said first plane of rotation, a second link for moving said selector bar in said second plane of rotation, a main shaft mounted for axial and rotative movement, linkage connecting said first link with said main shaft subject to the axial movement of said shaft and linkage connecting said second link with said main sgag subject to rotative movement of said main s a 2. In an automobile having a transmission shiftable by axial movement of two shift rails, a selector bar engageable with either of said shift rails, means pivoting one end of said selector bar in one plane of rotation, means pivoting the same end of said selector bar in a second plane of rotation, a main shaft in said automobile, linkage connecting the selector bar with said main shaft to rotate said selector bar in one of said planes of rotation, other link means between said main shaft and said selector bar for rotating said selector bar in the second of said planes of rotation.

33. In an automobile having a transmission ar-' ranged to be operated by axial movement of two shift rails, a selector'bar, a universal joint for one end of said selector bar, a shift rod fastened to the other end of said selector bar, a support for said shift rod positioned near the rear end thereof, means for raising or lowering said support, means for moving said shift rod along the axis thereof, and a main operating shaft, said means for raising'and lowering said support and said means for moving said shift rod both being connected to said main operating shaft.

4. In an automobile shift mechanism, an instrument panel defining an aperture, a steering column, a journal for said steering column, a bracket, a bolt fastening said bracket and said journal to said intrument panel, an operating shaft having a handle thereon and extending through said aperture, a journal for said operating shaft, and a yoke between said journal for said operating shaft and said bracket.

5. In a steering column shifting device, a hollow-main operating shaft having a handle thereon, an aperture in the wall of said shaft at the lower end thereof, a shift rod engaged in said :aperture, and supports for said operating shaft,

said supports being-rockable to give said operating shaft axial motion.

6.1 In combinationwith a transmission having I two shiftrails, a slot formed in each of said shift rails and facing each other, a selector bar havsupporting the other end of said selector bar, a

support for said shift rod near the end of said selector bar, means for moving said support to cause said shift rod to engage said selector bar with one or the other of said slots and means for moving said shift rod longitudinally in either position of said support.

7. In combination with an automobile having a transmission case mounted therein, a pair of shift rails connected to gear mechanism within said case and extending. through a wall of said case, said rails defining slots opening toward each other, a selector bar having one end pivotally supported on said case and extending between the ends of said shift rails, a rodconnected to the free end of said selector bar, means for moving said rod to engage said selector bar with either of said slots, a second rod connected to the free end of said selector bar, and means for moving said second rod axially to cause said selector bar to move either of said shift rails axially, said last mentioned means and said means for moving said first rod being operatively connected to a steering column shift mechanism.

NILS ERIK WAHLBERG. 

